Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). [1]:84 In January 1945, she was added to the cast of the film noir Fallen Angel (1945), which also included Dana Andrews and Alice Faye. When Wood's autopsy report came . 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One account claims Ms Darnell was burned over 90 percent of her body when she ran into a burning area trying to save her friends child, not knowing that the young girl had already escaped. She was 41 years old. Because her contract required her to make one film a year for the studio, she reported to the 20th Century-Fox lot in March 1952 and was cast in the film noir Night Without Sleep (1952). There was a gun to my head the entire time.. The brunette siren was snapped in both a . She was reported "still in critical . [1]:134, In 1946, Darnell filmed two pictures simultaneously, the expensively budgeted Anna and the King of Siam and Preminger's Centennial Summer. Darnell was watching Star Dust (1940) on television, on the night of the fire. Linda Darnell (1923 - 1965) Linda Darnell was a ravishing beauty from about the age of eleven, and always looked five or six years older than her real age. According to Turner Classic Movies(TCM), she developed a reputation early in her career for her stunning good looks. Before traveling to Italy for a two-picture deal with Giuseppe Amato, Darnell was rushed into the production of Blackbeard the Pirate (1952), whichmuch to Darnell's distressgot far behind schedule. I stepped into a fabulous land where, overnight, I was a movie star. Marley offered a quiet settlementwithout mention of Mankiewiczfor a payment of $125,000. . I am told that when surface beauty is gone, the real woman emerges. In an interview during production of Hotel for Women, which lasted until June, Darnell admitted that movie making was not what she expected: "I'm learning what really hard work is. The search for the actress to portray Amber, a beauty who uses men to make her fortune in 17th century England, was modeled on the extensive process that led to the casting of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. Picture", "Linda Darnell - Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder", "Hostess tells plea to save Linda Darnell", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Linda_Darnell&oldid=1142847081, Episode: "Who Killed His Royal Highness? On January 1, 2003 television and film actor Royce Applegate died at the age of 63, at his Hollywood Hills home. Turner Classic Movies states that Linda Darnell spent much of her early career acting in the less serious, more escapist films of 20th Century Studios, which they specialized in at the time. Before she even got a chance to turn her life around, the "Girl With The Perfect Face" met an end so horrificit's unforgettable. His magical eye for natural and reduced lighting, and his extraordinary rapport and trust with his subjects, with whom he formed many life-long friendships, are what make his images infinitely timeless. Meanwhile, she realized that Darryl F. Zanuck had lost interest in her, and she was overlooked for most film roles that suited her. Your email address will not be published. [1]:84 The film became a great success, and with Darnell's triumph assured, she was allowed to abandon her upcoming film, Don Juan Quilligan (1945), which would have been another low point in her career. [13] The film's director, Henry Hathaway, in later life had only slight memories of Darnell but recalled that "a sweeter girl never lived. Mankiewicz, however, was unwilling to leave his wife for Darnell, and though the affair continued for six years, she returned to her husband. Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. She is best remembered for her numerous roles in the 1940s and 1950s, including such films as Star Dust (1940), The Mark of Zorro (1940), Hangover Square (1945), My Darling Clementine (1946), and Forever Amber (1947). They met again during production of Blood and Sand, but they drifted apart when Jorba announced he could not marry a girl who was in the public eye. Since Darnell was underage when she arrived in Hollywood, she was tutored on set. [1]:114 Darnell's romance with Mankiewicz influenced her personal life. Menu Log In Sign Up However, she never quite reached the popularity of her contemporaries, like Lauren Bacall, Hedy Lamarr, or Lana Turner, despite a career that lasted decades and included appearing in many major motion pictures. If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. They have released 28 portraits of Lovelace, who died aged 53 from injuries sustained in a car crash in 2002, for the upcoming exhibit in Manhattan, which opens on Monday December 9. Linda Darnell had one of the most tumultuous careers in Hollywood history. "[1]:72 Up to 1942, she dated Kay Kyser, Eddie Albert, George Montgomery, and Jackie Cooper, among others. For forty years, all of the softly lit, feminine images - intended to help her break Hollywood as a 'legitimate actress - remained lost, unprocessed and in private ownership until they surfaced at auction in Los Angeles this July. [31] She was promised alimony of $350 monthly until July 15, 1964, and then $250 until September 15, 1967. Portraying a "seductive peasant girl who takes three men to their ruin before she herself is murdered,"[1]:82 it was a type of role she had never before played. Furthermore, she had two half-siblings . You waltz through a role, and everywhere you hear that you are beautiful and lovely, a natural-born actress. She was also a regular at the Hollywood Canteen. Her mother was determined that her daughter would be a star. Although a well-loved figure on the 20th Century-Fox lot among the cast, crew, and lot workers, it was reported that Darnell made only one good friend in Hollywood, actress-singer Ann Miller, whom she met at a Catalina Island benefit. Forever Amber did not live up to its hype, and although it became a success at the box office, most reviewers agreed that the film was a disappointment. My only regret will be that I could not have begun it earlier - that so many years have been ruined because I was considered beautiful. I still dont know how to write, but i'm writing and you are reading :), 2023 BygonelyPrivacy policyTerms of ServiceContact us. Amazingly, only ten weeks after the death of Dennis Patrick, yet another actor was to die in a house fire. According to co-star Rosemary DeCamp, Darnell nevertheless was "very polite", and she was satisfied to work at a studio which did not treat her as a child. [5] With production beginning in April 1939, she was featured in her first film, Hotel for Women (1939), which had newspapers immediately hailing her as the newest star of Hollywood. Wow this is another beautiful image of Linda. Linda Darnell (born Monetta Eloyse Darnell; October 16, 1923 - April 10, 1965) was an American actress. As the fire spread, the actors at first stayed in character, trying not to cause the audience to panic. That's a young age, just twenty years after the film I'd just seen, Fallen Angel, in which she was just 21. I pleaded for something to do, but nothing happened. She went to California and when the studio found out how young she really was, she. Born on October 16, 1923, in Dallas, Texas, USA, Linda Darnell was the second of four children of postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell and the former Pearl Brown. Darnell was disappointed and felt rejected; she later said: "Right under your very nose someone else is brought in for that prize part you wanted so terribly. Jones started his film career as a stunt man before moving on to make more than 160 films. Matters changed when she was named one of the four most beautiful women in Hollywood along with Hedy Lamarr, Ingrid Bergman, and Gene Tierney in a 1944 edition of Look. He was married to actress Shirley Jones who starred in the TV series, Partridge Family, with Cassidys son, David Cassidy. [1]:8283, Released in 1944, the film provided her a new screen image as a pin-up girl. Ms Darnell had appeared in over 30 films and several TV programs. Linda Darnel's tragic death. [3] Her true age came out later in 1939, and she became one of the few actresses under the age of 16 to serve as leading ladies in films. When you see the movie Deep Throat, you are watching me being raped, she boldly stated in a 1986 official inquiry into the sex industry. The only thing I knew how to do was be a movie star. [1]:82 Afterwards, the studio allowed her to be loaned out for the lead in Summer Storm. Most states require a written request for the autopsy report. Miss Darnell, 43, w'as rushed to Skokie Valley Community Hospital. [1]:53 Her first love was Jaime Jorba, an Hispanic youth whom she met while still in high school. Do you think you know a lot about TV? [3] Loretta Young was originally assigned to play the role, but she demanded a salary which the studio would not give her. Darnell's life came to a tragic end on April 10, 1965, as the result of burns from a fire. Charles (Buck) Jones was one of the 492 victims of the November 28, 1942, Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts. Many know the names of actors who died in airplane crashes (Audie Murphy, Vic Morrow), or in automobile accidents (James Dean), but which actors have died in fires? "[1]:55 By June 1940, shortly after completing Brigham Young, Darnell earned "a weekly salary larger than most bank officials."[14]. The fire occurred at the house of her former secretary. She longed for the leading role in the controversial film Pinky (1949), but Zanuck feared that her character would be compared to Amber by the audience, and A Letter to Three Wives co-star Jeanne Crain was cast instead. She co-starred with Tyrone Power in adventure films, and established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947).
[1]:19 In 1936, she entered the Dallas Little Theater and was cast in the southwestern premiere of Murder in the Cathedral. Today, she is immortalized by an impressive range of films, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 1631 Vine Street. Darnell grew up adored by Hollywood but soon learned its many dangers. Linda Darnell, one of five children of a postal clerk, grew up fast. 0. It was the only time that she had to live up to this part of her contract, although she was released from it in September 1952.[25]. [3] According to columnist Louella O. Parsons, Darnell was "so young, so immature and so naive in her ideas" and was very loyal to her boss, Darryl F. His best-known role was as Keith Purvis in the TV series Blue Healers. He also appeared in Matlock Police, Homicide, and Are You Being Served.. Darnell was born in Dallas, Texas, as one of four children (excluding her mother's two children from an earlier marriage) to postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell and the former Margaret "Pearl" Brown. Find the location of Linda Darnell's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, read a biography, see related stars and browse a map of important places in their career. [1]:146, Darnell was married to pilot Merle Roy Robertson from 1957 to 1963. [1]:98 Darnell was certain that Forever Amber would be her ticket to stardom, and she told reporters: My first seven years in Hollywood were a series of discouraging struggles for me. Evans is believed to have told friends he was planning to stay on to defend his property. During the release of the latter, she was on location in Monument Valley for the filming of the John Ford Western My Darling Clementine (1946), playing a role for which she lost 12 pounds. Suddenly you were fired and no one would hire you at any figure remotely comparable to your previous salary. It was Lovelace's reportedly violent first husband and manager, Chuck Traynor, who initiated her studio session with Greene. It was the first film for which she was widely critically acclaimed. "[1]:98. By late 1943, Darnell was fed up with critics only praising her beauty rather than her acting abilities. After her daughter jumped, Darnell's secretary stood on the window ledge, calling for help. Add Your Name. 39. makes $200 a week at 20th Century-Fox. This news initially excited Darnell because it permitted her to focus on her film career in Europe. Darnell was found next to the burning living-room sofa and was transferred to the burn unit at Chicago's Cook County Hospital with burns over 80% of her body. LINDA DARNELL OBITUARY. 23:34, 04 Dec 2013. Hey Friend, Before You Go.. Turner Classic Movies reveals that there is more than one version of the story. Applegate died of smoke inhalation. Linda Darnell was an American film actress. [1]:77 Marley was a heavy drinker and introduced Darnell to alcohol in 1944, which eventually led to an addiction and weight problems. [1]:83 Darnell complained that the studio lacked recognition of her, which prodded Zanuck to cast her in Hangover Square (1945), wherein she played a role she personally had chosen. Darnell had been widely expected to win an Academy Award nomination for A Letter to Three Wives; when this did not happen, her career began to wane. [1]:69 Instead, she was cast in roles that she loathed, including the musical Orchestra Wives (1942). Actress. Fire officials suspected a faulty heater started the fire. [32][33], The women urged the secretary's daughter to jump from the second-floor window. By the 1920s, Jones joined Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix and Ken Maynard as the top cowboy actors of the day. Her Tragic Death. We posted these stories, while he was alive for years. Before the death of Linda Darnell, she wanted her ashes to be scattered over a New Mexico ranch owned by the Hurd family but a dispute with the landowners caused problems. After the remains had been in storage for ten years, her daughter asked that they be interred at the Union Hill Cemetery, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the family plot of her son-in-law. Afterwards, she flew back to Rome to complete Angels of Darkness, in which she spoke Italian. When she filed for divorce from Marley in 1951, she accused her husband of cruelty, claiming he was "rude" and "critical" towards Darnell and her family.